The present invention relates generally to maintenance of consumer electronic devices, and more specifically to using local devices as diagnostic tools for consumer electronic devices.
The proliferation of multimedia technology has spawned a growth in the number and diversity of different consumer electronic devices commonly found in the average home. Such devices may include personal computers, workstations, digital televisions, Personal Video Recorders (PVR""s), set-top boxes, digital video recorders, game devices, personal digital assistants (PDA""s), printers, audio devices (e.g., jukebox AV systems, CD players and mini-disc players), and audio/video (AV) hard drives.
Although ownership of a variety of electronic devices provides a user with an enhanced living experience, the use and maintenance of all of these devices can be very complicated and can cause frustration even to a more technically astute user. This problem is partially due to the fact that each of the devices requires a different operational procedure, and, should there be problems with expected behavior, requires different procedures for diagnosing the problematic behavior and preparing the faulty device for repair. Typically, effective diagnosis of the fault requires ancillary test equipment that is unavailable to the user and complex diagnostic procedures that are beyond the understanding of the user. As a result, the faulty device needs to be physically transported to a repair facility where experienced technicians can diagnose and then repair the problem. However, because each of the devices may be provided by a different manufacturer, the process of contacting vendor service centers for help, and shipping the device back and forth for diagnosis and repair can be very tedious and expensive.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a mechanism for diagnosing consumer electronic devices locally, thereby eliminating a need to find a service center associated with the faulty device and to ship the faulty device to this service center.
The present invention relates to various aspects for using local devices as diagnostic tools for consumer electronic devices.
According to one aspect of the present invention, when a problem with a consumer electronic device owned by a user is identified, a diagnostic procedure is provided to control the diagnosis of the potentially faulty consumer electronic device by a testing consumer electronic device. The testing consumer electronic device is a local device owned by the user that is capable of diagnosing problems associated with the potentially faulty consumer electronic device. In one embodiment, the testing consumer electronic device and the potentially faulty consumer electronic device are part of a home network. The home network enables communication of the testing consumer electronic device and the potentially faulty consumer electronic device during the diagnosis. In another embodiment, the testing consumer electronic device and the potentially faulty consumer electronic device are communicatively coupled to each other only during the diagnosis using a special purpose connectivity means.
The present invention describes systems, clients, servers, methods, and computer-readable media of varying scope. In addition to the aspects and advantages of the present invention described in this summary, further aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the drawings and by reading the detailed description that follows.